1.22.2013

If you missed parts 1-3, then you'll want to catch up on those, below.

If you remember, last time we were in the actual kitchen, we installed our new sink... and YES, I'm still smitten by our Ikea farmhouse sink EVERY day. For those of you who have wondered, emailed and asked, I'm happy to say that it's held up perfectly!!! I 100% recommend it.

I have to be totally honest in saying that this next update is something that I've been a little timid to post about, because I know how many of you have voiced your strong opinions on how sad it would be if we were to paint over our beautiful wood cabinetry.

Well guess what?... don't hate us too much, but we went ahead and did it. Eeeeek!

Yup, you read that right. We HIRED out our cabinet painting and did NOT Do-It-Ourselves.

***GASP!***

Yes, we believe in DIY'ing lots of things, but when it comes to cabinets that we were going to be looking at and using EVERY day, we knew we couldn't get a flawless, glossy, durable, smooth finish like the professionals could. Plus... Cason and I totaled up how much it would cost us to DIY our cabinets, verses having Nic and Jeff do them and guess what? With the cost of a sprayer, paint supplies and other equipment we'd have to buy, we were only going to save a couple hundred bucks... and that doesn't include the TIME and LABOR that we would have had to put into the project! Then ultimately, after Jeff and Nic told us that the whole cabinet painting process for our kitchen was only going to take about a week from start to finish... it literally took us not even 2 minutes to make the choice that we were going to leave painting our cabinets and building out our island to the pros, who were already well-equipped with everything they needed.

The process started with the removing of cabinet doors and drawers. Those were taken off-site to be sprayed and finished with a lacquer-based paint.

Once all those were out of the way Nic started in by painting the faces of our cabinets.

Because I wanted our kitchen to look a bit more unique and customized than it did before, I chose to paint the island a really light gray and build it out a bit with a panel design that Nic and I came up with.

Even just having the cabinet fronts painted white changed the entire look of the kitchen right away, and I quickly KNEW that we were onto something good

:)

While our cabinet faces were drying we continued to stay as on-task and busy as possible. That same week our backsplash tile was installed as well. Let me tell ya, these tile layers were complete geniuses! I'm pretty sure they could have done the job with their eyes closed. It was fascinating to watch them work. Cuts that would have probably taken Cason and I hours to figure out, they could whip out in a few minutes flat!

Don't worry, I didn't get much time to photograph their skills and stand around admiring for too long... Cason had me working double time on our wood planked wall.

Talk about kitchen makeover OVERDRIVE! The tile installers just kept laughing at us, as we tried to figure out some of the more difficult angled cuts around our bay window. They were really nice about it, but I'm sure they were thinking...

"MAN, now I know why they didn't tackle this tile backsplash on their own."

***blush***

In the end we both got finished with the projects that we had set out to do that day, and quite frankly, all I remember is how happy I was knowing that so many things were moving along and getting done!!! Isn't that the BEST feeling EVER, when working on ANY new project in your home!?

Below you can see what the finished gray subway tile looked like before and after grout. We went back and forth between dark gray grout and white... and after all was said and done we're glad we went with the Alabaster white grout because it tied in really nicely with the white cabinetry.

Only a few days later Nic and Jeff were back to install the rest of our new kitchen!!!

As you can see from the photos, anywhere that there was a large blank panel within our kitchen cabinet layout, we added a little built-out box feature or plain, new, white sprayed overlays instead. This is an AWESOME option for those of you who are looking to REFACE your cabinets, instead of completely rip them out. It saves TONS of money and time, but gives you a completely different look!

We still loved the style of our beadboard fronts on our doors, so we just painted them, but Copper Canyon Design will also custom build you brand new door fronts to go on your existing cabinet faces as well! If you can dream it up, they can build it for you... they're pretty awesome like that.

Here's what our new gray island looked like with the built-up panels attached to the backs. Again, these were applied right over our existing island, so there was no building of the "new island" in our home, Nic and Jeff did all of that in their shop and then just adhered them onto our old island surround when they came.

For those of you who might want to know, these were our final paint choices. I hate to say it, but they really don't have exact names... hence the reason I'm showing you the codes instead.

I CAN say that we matched our gray paint off of our backsplash tile (Desert Gray) and the white is pretty basic, meaning that it's a true, pure white, with very little yellow/cream in it.

And finally, here is a photo of what our finished white cabinets look like today!

Eeeeeeeee!

I love, love, LOVE them!!! It seriously turned out even better than we had imagined. Although the cabinet placement stayed the same and all we did was paint, add a few architecturally interesting panels to some of the plain sides and replace the old black hardware with silver pulls and handles... our kitchen feels like it just doubled in size! The white cabinets and tile backsplash make everything seem more grand and airy somehow. Cason and I couldn't be happier with the outcome and really, in just a little over a week, everything with the painting and tiling process was DONE... and that was worth EVERY penny.

If you're in the Salt Lake City area and are looking for a great bid on painting your old cabinets or completely getting new ones, you HAVE to give Copper Canyon Design a call. Jeff and Nic do amazing work and I highly recommend them.

... and yes, I PAID 100% for my cabinets to be refinished and in no way, shape or form did they trade services or pay me to say any of these nice things. haha! Let's just say that their bid beat out any other cabinet re-finishers by FAR!

We still have a few finishing touches that we're working on around the sink area in our kitchen, so we'll be showing you those next. PLUS we've added a new (quite large) addition to the living room that Cason's particularly excited to share with all of you.

I thought your kitchen was very pretty before and was wondering why you wanted to change the colors and remodel but I have to say the after is gorgeous! Looks bright, clean and so much bigger. So much more light, I might have to give those 2 a call. :) I will take the discount for you LOLAlso..can't wait to see that piano in the living room {wink wink}

That looks so awesome! I have painted my cabinets, not once, but twice and they currently are a different color top and bottom, so I am totally not one of those people. I love, love, love a light kitchen. It wouldn't want to make me cook anymore, but I'd just want to sit in there and stare at it. :)

Fabulous! We've been debating painting our cabinets or replacing...thought about having them professionally painted but didn't know who would do a good job. I think we've found our answer! Thank you so much for sharing! :)

Oh my!! It looks absolutely beautiful. I was definitely a fan of your old cabinets but they look just as good, and your back splash is grand! Now you have me wondering if I SHOULD tackle my kitchen cabinets ourselves or get them done professionally. I'm not a DIY expert by any means, and this seems like the way to go. Thanks for posting this :-)

We have honey oak cabinets and I've been wanting to paint them white for a while, but everyone said white was in in the 90's and that dark expresso or black is the way to go now...after seeing yours I am more convinced white is still the way I'd like to go. :)

i feel like we are living in a parallel universe. we just painted our cabinets {white dove by BM} and reused our same doors. we have the same granite, too. we have to finish our backsplash - you've inspired me.we did add under cabinet lighting and i am addicted!

So, I got my dream kitchen over the summer and it includes that (really heavy) beautiful sink.......how are you getting on with the grooves at the back? I am spraing mine, leaving the cleaner to sit and then going at it with a toothbrush when they start looking a little dingy. What are you doing???

p.s I sometimes go in my kitchen just to look at the sink, I kind of have an addiction!

Someone wash my mouth out with soap because a swear word flew past my lips when I saw the after picture! Dan and I are planning to re-do our kitchen this May/June...I need to give those guys a call. I love that you PAID them to do it, finally a sane blogger I can relate too. If I tried painting my cabinets they would be out in the garage until Lauren left for college. (she's almost 5) Gorgeous, just gorgeous.

It looks so fantastic. I have kitchen envy! You were the last blogger I could find that didn't have painted cabinets. I searched and searched so that I could justify leaving mine wood color. Oh now what to do?! Nice job!

Wow! You certainly chose the right guys to refinish your cabinets when you selected Copper Canyon Cabinets. I've known Jeff for years (his wife is my super awesome hair lady) and I've seen his work in person- phenomenal!

As the daughter of a cabinetmaker myself I totally cringed when you said you painted the cabinets BUT it looks like you did it the smart way because the pros really can get a far better quality finish than paint will ever allow. I always tell clients when I design that "the smartest part of doing it yourself is knowing when you shouldn't!" I applaud you guys for all the gutsy projects you tackle and the wisdom of knowing which ones you shouldn't. Great example for DIY homeowners!

It looks amazing! We have wood cabinets in our kitchen that I just said this weekend that I feel guilty painting but that I'd really love for them to be white! This gives me a little motivation to just go for it!

I love it. Your kitchen looks so much bigger. We painted(white) our cabinets a few months back and I so love them. Now just waiting on my butcher block counters to complete the look. Just love following your blog, you guys always inspire me!

I really love the new look! I understand why you wanted to paint the cabinets; it just really completed the look. I have white cabinets (came with the house) and I love the clean, airy look of my kitchen. The changes you made to your kitchen made a world of difference and I think it's lovely!

I don't blame ya girl. Painting cabinets is a #$%!. I love, love the gray tile. So pretty. We have white subway tile with gray grout, and I think it works well in our kitchen. Funny, I actually posted a picture of the kitchen today. :)

My guess on Carson's addition is baby grand piano???? haha! it just looks like that shape to me! or some funky chaise lounge. :)

When I stumbled onto your blog via Pinterest a few months ago, I went through all of your home photos oohing and aahing over everything. I was a little disappointed when I got to your kitchen though. Not because it wasn't gorgeous because it was but because it didn't seem to fit the personality you exude through your blog. This is actually more of what I expected to see! It really looks like it "fits" you now! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

I think I know the new addition to your house by the outline of blue tape on the floor ;-) Wow your kitchen makeover looks fantastic of the cupboards, wow. I do like the way it looked before but I must say it opens up the kitchen so much more!

nice choices-- it looks SO great! we had our "beautiful wood" kitchen cabinets painted white last year and i have never regretted it. i think the white grout with the gray tile was the right pick. in our house, we did a white subway tile and i love it with the contrast of the dark gray grout. contrast is key!

LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I would also LOVE to tackle the farmhouse sink too but I can't quite convince my husband to cut beautiful granite on our new construction house. :( Bum. But we also did white grout with our grey subway tile backsplash and I am SO thankful someone advised us to go that route because it MAKES the subway tile I feel like!

So so so beautiful! I love seeing how your fabulous ideas come to fruition. We've been thinking about getting new cabinets in our kitchen but DUH!! Copper Canyon did our kitchenette when we finished our basement and I feel silly for not even thinking of them. Homer (Jeff) was super awesome to work with. Thanks for posting this and reminding me what a beautiful job they do!

It really looks amazing!I am in luurve with the backsplash and the white grout was the perfect choice! We also have very nice and fairly new wood cabinets that I long to paint white. One day I will be brave ... :)

Love it! My husband and I just had this conversation the other night about painting our cabinets white. They are a beautiful dark cherry wood, but I want something brighter. I feel guilty painting perfectly good cabinets but after seeing yours and how good it looks, I am inspired! I am going to show this post to my husband right now! It is gorgeous!!!

Absolutely gorgeous - love, love LOVE it!!! I stained my kitchen cabinets in Ebony, which does look good, but I'm being convinced more and more to make the switch to white. It really brightens up the space and makes it look so much bigger. Thanks for sharing!

Obviously they look wonderful! The lighter colors fit perfectly with the updated color scheme of the house. I am moving in ten days and can not wait to implement several of your projects into my new space.

I will preach to the day I die - NOTHING looks better in a kitchen than white or some form of white cabinets. Look how much brighter it is. I'm looking to remodel my kitchen Shelly and was wondering if you would be willing to email me the round-estimate it cose you to do this? -- Gorgeous job!

It looks amazing!!! We did the exact same thing in our kitchen-had painters spray it, install subway tile, and put panels on our island just like that! As nervous as I was about painted cabinets they have held up great!

Wow oh Wow! The cabinets and gray back splash look amazing! It brightens up the whole area beautifully. I have white cabinets as well and wondered how it would look with the stainless/black appliances but it looks great. I would just upgrade the dishwasher to stainless to finish it off. But it looks beautiful. Congratulations!

Wow oh Wow! The white cabinets and gray back splash look amazing. I also have white cabinets and wondered how the stainless/black appliances would look with them but they look great. I would just upgrade the dishwasher to stainless but it still looks beautiful. Congratulations!

I love it! I know how scary changes can be, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut! Congratulations on such beautiful choices. I can't tell you how much I enjoy seeing what you've done each time. Thanks again for sharing all of your ideas. You inspire me to make small changes. Hey, even this old....and I mean "old" dog ( I still feel like a pup) can learn new tricks! : )

Gorgeous! I love that you are doing things debt free--the hardest part for me is the waiting, but I think it's worth every penny to have the peace of mind of knowing it's paid for! Thanks for sharing :)

Oh my GOSH!! They look so great.. All of your choices were spot on.. I bet you just sit in there and make googly-eyes at it. I know I would...Are you planning on replacing the dishwasher with SS too? P.S. Super excited about the piano! Y'all are gonna be so fancy!! HAHA! Congrats on the beautiful kitchen..-Miranda

Don't look back--this looks awesome! And fits your style so much better. We painted our cabs white last year and we got the same gruff about painting the wood, but you have to do what you love and what you want to live with! We also did the paneling/overlays on our island and we LOVE it (Our island is dark walnut though). Can't wait to see the rest!

We really want to paint our existing cabinets white. Our kitchen is close to the same size as yours, and we have an island too. Can you give a ballpark cost on the project so we know what we're looking at?

It honestly just depends on the size of your kitchen. I also had some extra work done, besides just painting the cabinets, but I would say anywhere between $550-$1200... Depending on the size of course :)

I would love to go white on my kitchen cabinets, but I worry about how hard it is to keep them clean. My kids are so messy! Do you have a hard time keeping them clean? Do your girls leave jam prints all over them?

sweet sweet Shelly, you inspire me, truly you have such a talent for so many things. I wish I could get you on Design Star, you are truly a star. Moreover, you do it with such cost awareness. You do it step by step. Your tutorials rock, and I mean rock. Getting to watch you transform yourself into the perfect you is awesome. Your a true women of God. You have journalistic ability beyond your awareness. You not only raise a beautiful happy God loving family, and you live your faith with Grace. Your ability to share your accomplishments of your craft is so well documented. I share your site with everyone. Keep it up I look forward to all you do. I wish I could meet you in person, and I believe one day I will. To say I admire you is not even a fair endorsement of how you touch me. Keep it girl, you look fabulous, your home is warm and stylish, and very much a home of a very happy family. I have a ongoing list of sorts that over the years my sister and I dub Happily Ever After Homes, and yours truly is. God Bless you and all He has ahead for you, and your wonderful Husband, and girls. Hang on tight to them. Go for it, all the way, one day I will watch you on TV, and I know you have a book in you, part Spirit inspirational, and all about home style, restyle, do it yourself, it needs to be about your journey. Wow, can't wait. Best to you, and many Blessing to 2013!!!

They did a fabulous job! Everything looks fabulous! I want to paint our cabinets so bad. They are HORRIBLE! I had thought to tackle them ourselves but I may have to look into someone properly doing it. I'm so glad I saw your pics though because I want to change our counter tops as well and wasn't sure how a lighter counter would go with white or cream cabinets but I really like the look of yours so I think it will be fine especially since we have super dark hardwood floors.

Your kitchen was beautiful before, but yes a little dark. The new one is WOW! If you didn't post pictures of the "during" I'm not sure I would believe that it's the same kitchen. It has a lot of style and looks custom. So amazing. Good job to you guys for knowing when to DIY and when to call the pros! Can't wait to see what's next!

The kitchen was beautiful before, but your right, a little dark. The new kitchen is WOW! So light and has so much style. Great job. Good for you guys to know when to DIY and when to call in pros. The result looks amazing. If you hadn't have posted the "during" photos, I'm not sure I would believe that it's the same kitchen. It looks so different! Can't wait to see what's next!

We have been wanting to do our kitchen. We purchased the flooring on sale & have have to paint & I'd love to do the cabinets but, I think ours will need more work than yours. So inspired to get started! Love the transformation.

Wow! You have now inspired me to take the plunge and paint my cabinets. I too, have nice cabinets but they are a light wood and have wanted to change the look. I keep putting it off 'just in case' we move someday but I can't live in the future. Looks great!

I am also in the process of transforming my kitchen. I have a green tile countertop that I don't like. You can see it here (http://tobirdsofafeather.blogspot.com/2013/01/kitchen-update.html)... what would you do with that? any ideas? and no... I don't have the money right now to replace the countertop!! ;P

You did it!!! It looks fabulous! I love it! Now I have to build the guts to do the same to ours, gulp! I need to find out more before I do, so I hope you'll post more and more on this project. I even posted about it a couple of days ago. Ours are dark oak & it looks like the 80s brown. No likey. Wish you were near by for ideas.

I absolutely love how it turned out! Our kitchen is very similar to yours before. My husband was concerned there wouldn't be enough contrast with white cabinets and out light granite, I can't wait to show him how good yours looks. I'm not sure if you mentioned this somewhere and I just missed it but would you mind telling me where you got your tile? Thanks and nice work!

I absolutely love how it turned out! My kitchen is really similar in color to yours before. My husband has been concerned that we wouldn't have enough contrast with white cabinets and our light granite, can't wait to show him how yours turned out! I'm not sure if you mentioned it somewhere but would you mind telling me where you got your tile and what its name is? Thanks and keep up the good work!

I called Copper Canyon Design and they finished my cabinets today. They look so much nicer! Thanks for the inspiration! You are so talented and I love your blog. I was wondering if put decorations on top of your cabinets? You had some before. If you do, any suggestions?

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